This is one of my favorite books in Coyle’s series. When Clare stumbles into Matteo’s surprise bachelor party, and his invitees hire a stripper who looks exactly like Brianne Seymour, his fiance, she is shocked. She does everything she can to hide what is going on from Brianne. When the young stripper has no ride home, Clare and Matteo walk her out of the bar, when she is suddenly shot dead near the street. Matteo believes that the shooter was not actually targeting the stripper, but his fiance Brianne. He asks Clare to investigate the situation to see who is out to get Brianne. Begrudgingly, Brianne allows Clare to join her in Trend’s offices.
Clare gets to learn what it is like in her ex-husband’s fiance, Trend editor Brianne Seymour’s, world. This book gave me a Devil Wears Prada vibe because Brianne tells Clare her appearance is unacceptable, and takes her to Fen, a designer clothing shop, to find a fashionable (and pricey) outfit to wear that will be suitable for the Trend office. Clare enters Brianne’s workplace and is able to observe all the cattiness between the workers there–especially between some of Brianne’s assistants, who are competing for a higher position.
There are also many sticky situations that Clare gets involved in: an underground restaurant robbery, missing wedding rings, exchanges with a vengeful restaurateur, Matteo’s shady coffee dealings, Clare meeting Brianne’s creepy ex-husband, and Clare having to do what it takes to secure a special sculpture for Brianne’s weeding from artist Nunzio.
My favorite part of the book is when Clare learns the truth about Brianne’s background and sees a more human side to Brianne. Brianne has more layers than it would first appear.
- Goodreads rating – 3.96
- SUMMARY – Michele